Dangote says Nigerian engineers excelled so well Qatar poached 18 from his refinery team
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, says Nigeria’s greatest challenge is creating sustainable jobs, even as the world is recognising the skill of Nigerian engineers—so much so that Qatar has hired 18 of those trained on his refinery project.
Speaking at a recent engagement, Dangote said the success of Nigerian engineers trained through his conglomerate proves the country’s talent can compete anywhere.
“The biggest challenge for us now is how to create jobs,” he said.
“When we built this refinery, the Nigerian engineers that we hired performed so well that Qatar came and poached those new engineers who were trained as expatriates in Qatar—18 of them.”
He noted that his companies have trained more than 67,000 Nigerians, including 18 indigenous engineers who worked on the $19-billion Dangote Refinery, but lamented that the absence of large-scale projects across the country leaves many of these skilled professionals under-employed.
He urged both government and the private sector to invest in major infrastructure and industrial projects that can absorb the growing pool of highly trained workers.
“If we have fully educated people, we have to have some smart people,” Dangote said.
“What pains us is that after training 67,000 people, nobody is doing any other big project where they can now get work.”
The chairman of Dangote Group added that future ventures, such as a new fertiliser plant, will again rely heavily on Nigerian engineers, underscoring the need to create more opportunities at home to keep top talent from leaving.
